CASSIE HOWARD:
âBut, isnât that all the more reason to trust her?â Cassie knew that Nate could be impulsive. He didnât think clearly when he was pissed off. And especially not when he felt threatened. Which, he did in the moment because Brooke and now Tyler, had something on them too. âIf you tell Jake, sheâs just going to tell Maddy everything. Sheâs a lot closer to her than she is me. So, thereâs really nothing holding her back. If you say something, weâll lose our leverage and then Maddy finds out why you dumped her tonight. You donât get it but, those girls can be mean. Itâs not YOU who suffers, itâs ME. So, if you care about me at all Nate, you wonât run to Jake. I face enough ridicule on my own from the girls at school, do you really want to put me through more of that?â Nate would never understand what itâs like to be a girl in high school. Where he gets praised for sleeping around, Cassie gets slut shamed. It wasnât fair. âPromise me, you wonât say anything?â
/
Trust her? Nate wouldnât trust Brooke if she was the last blonde bimbo on earth. What he could trust though, is beating Tyler down and then threatening her to keep quiet or heâll get it a lot worse. Thatâs how he was raised to be. Your strength will lead you to greatness, Nathaniel. His father led him to believe in violence. It was an age-old tradition in masculinity. The men are warriors, fighters, they lead with their sword not their heart. But Cassie was a weakness he never saw coming. His Achilles heel; and he knows he should cut her loose before she takes him down but thereâs something about her blue eyes that makes him crave love and tenderness more than being stronger and more manlier than his faggot father. âFine, whatever. Weâll do things your way, Cas. But if your way fails, then itâs my way.â Giving up control was a huge deal for someone like Nate who spends every minute of his day in routine. From his workout regiment to his football training, everything has a mark. People included. They were just targets for him to crash into â like the Mod Sleds at practice. âLook, I know I can be intense, ok? I donât mean to be. I just, I have a lot on my mind. But I donât regret anything. I want you, Cassie. You. Youâre the only one. So Iâm going to trust you. Not Brooke, not Tyler, â you.âÂ

















